Our objective was to determine whether psychological factors have an influence on the outcome of the fertilization step of in vitro fertilization (IVF) trials. The design was a prospective cohort study. We studied 48 women and 32 of their spouses. Each subject was assessed psychologically on the day before oocyte retrieval (OR) with the Child Project Questionnaire (CPQ) and the Ways of Coping Checklist. In addition, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was filled in by subjects 2 days before OR, and the State form was completed again for 6 additional days. The outcome measure was the success of the fertilization step. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of psychological factors while taking into account the effect of medical and sociodemographic variables. The following variables were found to be statistically significant predictors of fertilization: normal sperm; tubal lesions or occlusion; women's factor II of the CPQ, i.e. Perception of Marital Harmony in the Project to Conceive a Child. We conclude that, even when the influence of biomedical variables is taken into account, the women's Perception of Marital Harmony in the Project to Conceive a Child, is a statistically significant predictor of the success of the fertilization step of IVF.

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